here. To her credit, my mother saw that I was interested in the street life her husband lived and she sent us far away.”
“But your sisters are there?” That sounded so judgy, but what the fuck? Who did that? Then again, she remembered her own parents and that humbled her quite a bit.
“They’re his. Her husband’s. He didn’t care that she sent us here. In fact I think he preferred it that way. My sisters are in boarding school in Switzerland. I’d normally frown upon that, but it keeps them out of that mess for most of the year so I accept the rest.”
Maybe nodded. Understanding. “So it was one of those family dinners where everyone had super high expectations of everyone else and no one met them and everyone left unsettled and slightly dissatisfied?”
“Exactly so.”
She wanted to dig deeper. Wanting to understand him better. But she also could tell from his body language that he’d shared all he was going to for that moment.
Over the years, he’d given her bits and pieces of his story and each time had felt like a gift. And now she wanted more.
“Can I do anything to help? Make it better somehow?”
His gaze sharpened and landed on her like a physical thing that stole her breath.
Was he going to request something dirty?
God she hoped so.
Instead he said, “Just listening helped. Also the vodka.”
“Okay. Well good.” She pulled her legs up, folding them beneath her.
“Talk more,” he said.
“I wish you’d kiss me.”
Hmm. She wasn’t sure she’d meant to say that out loud. But now that she had, she wasn’t sorry.
Especially when he put his glass down and leaned toward her.
He muttered something in Russian but she forgot to ask him what he’d said when he brushed his lips against hers, bringing a slight gasp from her at the sensation.
It wasn’t so much hesitant as exploratory. He took his time, tasting, testing. Taking. Oh yes, and she wanted to give.
Oh his flavor...a little vodka, a little tobacco—she knew he snuck out to smoke pungent black French cigarettes when he got stressed—anise perhaps. But there’d never been anything like it in her life and it fit him so well it left her slightly unsettled.
He knew his way around a woman’s mouth, that was for sure. His tongue was sure as it swept against hers, sending a wave of pleasure through her. He wasn’t going to be rushed or moved in any way but what he wanted.
He was just so calmly...in charge that it got her all worked up.
And that was before he nipped her bottom lip as he pulled back, making her whimper.
“Okay, that was worth waiting for,” she said a little more breathlessly than she’d planned.
His amused look was back. “Yes, yes it was. I’m relieved you agree. Now, you were going to talk more.”
“Is this so you don’t have to talk about your family?” Also, couldn’t they just kiss more instead?
“You’re very suspicious, zajka.”
Oh! The pet name again? He was going to kill her with adorable and then she’d die without having sexed him up. Which seemed totally unacceptable now that she’d made her mind up that she had to have him.
Briefly, she wondered if she should articulate that to him, but she decided against it. However, she did really want to know why he’d made up his mind to have her right back.
“People keep telling me that. I prefer curious. Why are you...why now?” she asked, flapping a hand back and forth between them.
He did this thing with his eyebrow and it was...well imperious. That wasn’t new. He did it at work all the time.
But now? What he gave her was something else. More sexy and haughty than imperious. Though that was always there because it was part and parcel of his makeup.
And now he gave her that look as the two of them shared a pretty small space. She’d never actually been in any situation half as intimate as the one they shared right then. His voice still seemed to strike some sort of chord deep within her, but it had softened at the edges. Like a touch.
“Why now? You know, as I do, that it’s always been there between us. But when you first came along there was Rada so I would not allow my thoughts to go any further than flirtation.”
“And now there’s no Rada.” Thank goodness.
He laughed and she found herself loving that sound. Wanting it more as she always had.
“But after Rada, you didn’t come for me.” She thought of the women he’d chosen over her and wanted to growl.
He winced. “I had some things to get out of my system. I wasn’t ready to come for you until I could get past the fact that I am your boss. I’m there, in case you wanted to know.
“And tonight, I came out of my aunt’s house and you were there. You called my name and I came. It seems this has been my path from the moment you hurtled into the shop two years ago.”
It made her feel...special that he’d said such things to her. And wildly flattered and beautiful.
“Oh. Well. That’s good. I mean, yeah. I like that.” She flapped a hand.
“Have I rendered you without coherent speech?” he teased.
“Don’t worry too much,” she managed, “it never lasts very long. My will to talk is pretty strong.”
“That’s been my experience.”
She sent him her own version of the raised brow.
He just smiled at her.
* * *
HE’D BEEN ESCAPING the house. Needing to be the hell away from the stupid drama of the evening.
Alexsei had managed to drag his mother back from the edge while Cris reined Seth in. Things weren’t totally settled, and he wasn’t sure they’d ever be. But for the time being they’d all survive to fight again another day.
But then there’d been a card game and Alexsei had headed out the back door, intending to walk around the block a few times when he’d heard his name and she’d been there.
And then she’d drawn him inside, into the heart of her home. He’d been moved by that. Nearly as much as the way she blushed when he spoke to her.
The placed smelled of her. Spicy sweet. He’d been expecting...well, he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting but it hadn’t been the feminine blue walls and the mounds of pillows and soft blankets on her—made—bed.
A
